India's Public Urinators Now Risk the Blast of a Firehose

Here's one way to get public urinators to clean up their act: give them a dose of their own medicine via a firehose's devastating blast.

A group calling itself "The Clean Indian" has done just that using a roving tanker-truck equipped with water cannons. The yellow behemoth, emblazoned with crossed-out peeing stick figures and the warning "You Stop, We Stop," patrols city streets looking for men splashing on walls. Then, with a surprise attack from behind, the truck's camo-clad operators unleash powerful jets that send the miscreants running or flying to the (urine-soaked) pavement.

It's a nasty tactic, and you've got to feel a little sorry for the men who might not have an easy place to relieve themselves. Almost half of India's 1.2 billion people don't have a toilet in their home, and public bathrooms tend to be scarce and frequently filthy. Still, if it makes guys nervous enough that they'll move to a slightly less visible spot to pee, it can't be all bad.